Broadway Musicals with a Solo Piano Orchestration

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 1:03pm

I was listening to the cast album of [title of show] the other day, and I remember seeing the clips online of the Broadway production that just had the music director on the corner of the stage behind a keyboard.

I know there's been some off-Broadway shows like Ordinary Days or Murder for Two that have a piano as the sole musical accompaniment, but are there any other Broadway besides [title of show] that have done this?

I can't imagine there'd be many. Even in the smallest theatre, it would sound so anemic (although I think this was the point in [tos], trying to create the notion of anti-spectacle).

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 1:13pm

Again, not Broadway, but The Go Between played in the West End with Michael Crawford and with only a piano accompaniment. But indeed it's a rarity on both sides of the pond. Even the pie shop Sweeney Todd had a violin in addition to the piano (and possibly another instrument?)

[latitudex1]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 1:48pm

The American Federation of Musicians has rules that dictate the minimum amount of musicians that can play in a house set by the size of said house. I think the smallest number is three on Broadway.

[DooWahDiddy]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 2:21pm

Off-Broadway you had The Fantasticks, which I believe is only piano and harp. I'm sure there are a ton of regional productions that forego the harp, as well.

It's true that each Broadway house has a minimum number of musicians, but obviously exceptions can be made or Title of Show would have had more than just one. I imagine the producers probably had to pay for three, which I believe is the minimum for the Lyceum, although I'm not sure exactly where that money would have ended up. Maybe they were able to come to an agreement.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 3:13pm

As mentioned above I'm pretty sure a solo piano arrangement on Broadway would require paying the minimum number of musicians anyway even if they're not performing.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 4:07pm

I seem to recall that there was a clash over the the musician minimums between the producers of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and AFM. From what I remember reading, even though the producers didn't win in not having to pay the extra salaries, they did end up requiring those non-playing musicians to report to the theatre and stay through the performance. This of course would have resulted in people not wanting to get those non-playing assignments, since it meant that would need to be there and wouldn't have the opportunity to sub elsewhere and be double-dipping, so to speak.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 4:34pm

A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine had a two-piano orchestration. So did the revival of The Most Happy Fella.

I believe if a show can justify why they have a fewer number of musicians than the house minimum, they are not required to pay extra musicians. [title of show] is a good example of this; the show only required one musician.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 6:05pm

latitudex1 said: "The American Federation of Musicians has rules that dictate the minimum amount of musicians that can play in a house set by the size of said house. I think the smallest number is three on Broadway."

Didn't Hairspray have actors mime playing instruments onstage to meet the minimum musicians for the Neil Simon Theatre?

[trentsketch]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 6:27pm

Actually doing a piano only show on Broadway is cost prohibitive. The American Federation of Musicians has a contract in place for a minimum amount of musicians who must perform as part of the orchestra or else there are very high fees to pay to work around it. There have been a few shows where the actors had to join the specific musician's union so the production could go ahead with their actor/musician concept. I swear John Doyle's Sweeney Todd had that happen, though it might have been his Company that had to do it. It would be cheaper to have actor/musicians join the AFM and be under a modified contract for both than pay the fines to have fewer musicians. It's the same reason why using tracks on Broadway productions is a no-go. It can be negotiated around if it can be justified by the production, but that's rare.

With that said, there are a few Broadway shows that have piano only orchestration packages from licensing houses. Side by Side by Sondheim, The Most Happy Fella, and The Music Man (no longer available, but it was quite lovely when I studied it) have or had two or three piano orchestrations available to license. The TYA and Jr adaptations of Broadway shows can be performed with one piano, though the big push is to use the orchestrated tracks that come with the license. 

[temms]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 7:17pm

The union has a “special situations” clause where you can ask to have the minimum reduced if there is a “compelling artistic reason”. In the case of TOS, it was conceived for one instrument and so I’m certain they got a pass on the minimum. I am not aware of any shows hiring “walkers” - that is, people hired who don’t play the show to meet the minimum - in any production for at least a decade if not longer. Someone told me once that “Tommy” was the last show that used them which I can believe.

There was a whole row with “Summer” because they used less than the minimum and claimed it was for artistic reasons but the union didn’t go for it, pointing out that the original Donna Summer recordings had huge orchestras. In the end the show closed before anything was settled.

If anyone has any other info I’d be curious, but I’m not aware of any walkers on any current or recent shows.

[toottoot]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 8:29pm

Sticking with off-broadway, Gutenberg! The Musical! employed a lone piano player for the orchestra. 

If the cast recordings are any indication, Forbidden Broadway only ever uses a solo pianist. But I'd be curious to hear if they ever fleshed it out more for the live show.

[Wick3]

Posted: 7/18/20 at 10:03pm

Lehman Trilogy is a Broadway play (not musical) but it did have a pianist in the front pretty much playing most of the time.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 1:43am

Both Summer and Priscilla Queen of the Desert had half (or less) of the house minimum at their respective theatres, and for both shows, the producers justified these as Special Situations and artistic choices for the small orchestrations. The musicians’ union somehow agreed, even though the disco music in these shows require full horn and string sections. In the case of Priscilla, they actually did use prerecorded strings (a keyboardist would trigger the tracks with a button), and musicians in the union made a big stink about it.

Many shows don’t meet the house minimums. Hamilton doesn’t. Six doesn’t. Shows sometimes get around this rule when the show is already orchestrated and later moves to Broadway, like Hamilton or Six or [title of show].

Updated On: 7/19/20 at 01:43 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 1:50am

I do remember how well The Most Happy Fella worked with those two pianos. What a cute production that was.

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 2:47am

For those who are curious, the minimums are below. As others have pointed out, shows can negotiate for a smaller number of musicians but it's hit or miss. Long ago the minimum was based on house size, but in '93 it was set for each specific theater, not based solely on house size. To @temms point, "walkers" are rare. Usually, you have a sense of what theaters you're considering and what the minimums are and adjust accordingly (you were planning on 4 in the orchestra but the house requires 7? You just orchestrate for 7 since you have to pay them anyway. Most composers and MD's won't say no to more musicians. When actors are also paying instruments you can sometimes get away with paying one salary but health and pension for both unions.

• Broadway and Majestic – 26
• Palace and Lunt-Fontanne – 25
• Gershwin, Imperial, Marquis, Minskoff, Richard Rodgers, St. James, Shubert and Winter Garden – 24
• Neil Simon – 20
• Martin Beck – 16
• Broadhurst – 15
• Barrymore, Brooks Atkinson, Music Box, Eugene O’ Neill – 9
• Longacre and Nederlander – 5
• Ambassador, Belasco, Biltmore, Booth, Circle in the Square, Cort, Golden, Walter Kerr and Lyceum – 3

[binau]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 6:16am

Did Catch Me If You Can have an orchestra of 20? The Addams Family 25? I can't remember it sounding so in those theatres...

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 7:32am

itsjustmejonhotmailcom said: "For those who are curious, the minimums are below. As others have pointed out, shows can negotiate for a smaller number of musicians but it's hit or miss. Long ago the minimum was based on house size, but in '93 it was set for each specific theater, not based solely on house size.To @temms point, "walkers" are rare. Usually, you have a sense of what theaters you're considering and what the minimums are and adjust accordingly (you were planning on 4 in the orchestra but the houserequires 7? You just orchestrate for 7 since you have to pay them anyway. Most composers and MD's won't say no to more musicians. When actors are also paying instruments you can sometimes get away with paying one salary but health and pension for both unions.

• Broadway and Majestic – 26
• Palace and Lunt-Fontanne – 25
• Gershwin, Imperial, Marquis, Minskoff, Richard Rodgers, St. James, Shubert and Winter Garden – 24
• Neil Simon – 20
• Martin Beck – 16
• Broadhurst – 15
• Barrymore, Brooks Atkinson, Music Box, Eugene O’ Neill– 9
• Longacre and Nederlander – 5
• Ambassador, Belasco, Biltmore, Booth, Circle in the Square, Cort, Golden, Walter Kerr and Lyceum – 3

"

How old is that list?  The Martin Beck changed names in 2003.

[bowtie7]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 9:03am

itsjustmejonhotmailcom said: "For those who are curious, the minimums are below. As others have pointed out, shows can negotiate for a smaller number of musicians but it's hit or miss. Long ago the minimum was based on house size, but in '93 it was set for each specific theater, not based solely on house size.To @temms point, "walkers" are rare. Usually, you have a sense of what theaters you're considering and what the minimums are and adjust accordingly (you were planning on 4 in the orchestra but the houserequires 7? You just orchestrate for 7 since you have to pay them anyway. Most composers and MD's won't say no to more musicians. When actors are also paying instruments you can sometimes get away with paying one salary but health and pension for both unions.

• Broadway and Majestic – 26
• Palace and Lunt-Fontanne – 25
• Gershwin, Imperial, Marquis, Minskoff, Richard Rodgers, St. James, Shubert and Winter Garden – 24
• Neil Simon – 20
• Martin Beck – 16
• Broadhurst – 15
• Barrymore, Brooks Atkinson, Music Box, Eugene O’ Neill– 9
• Longacre and Nederlander – 5
• Ambassador, Belasco, Biltmore, Booth, Circle in the Square, Cort, Golden, Walter Kerr and Lyceum – 3

"

Those are the old minimums--the current ones are--

 

Broadway, Minskoff, St. James and Marquis - 19

Majestic, Palace, Lunt-Fontanne, Imperial, Gershwin, Shubert and Winter Garden - 18

Neil Simon, Al Hirschfeld and Richard Rodgers - 14

August Wilson and Broadhurst - 12

Barrymore, Music Box and Gerald Schoenfeld- 9

Brooks Atkinson, Eugene O'Neill and Bernard Jacobs - 8

Longacre and Nederlander - 4

Ambassador, Belasco, Booth, Circle in the Square, Cort, Golden, Walter Kerr and Lyceum - 3 

New Amsterdam Theatre or the Foxwoods Theatre – 19

 

for anyone interested in hours of fun reading, this is a link to the 2011 AFM/League contract

https://www.afm.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Broadway_CBA_2011-2016.pdf

 

[tmdonahue]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 9:04am

If you're looking for shows to do locally, in a n-f-p theater, a number of shows have versions for high school and even younger students.  The music is simplified and I believe they come with piano accompaniment score.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 10:45am

Every licensed show comes with a piano-vocal score, so it could technically be a solo accompaniment.

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

Posted: 7/19/20 at 4:33pm

@bowtie7 you're right I made a stupid mistake. And lol at AFM putting contracts behind a wall for members only but then allows deep linking to them.

[whatdoesntkillme]

Posted: 7/20/20 at 12:56pm

yes, the practice of hiring "walkers" who don't play but pick up a check was done away with once the special situations clause was put in place. 

there's a fascinating history to the Priscilla band, which includes the union approving the special situation but then reversing its opinion after the show opened, and going so far as to picket the production outside the Palace.